Recap
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night. Next up for the Hawks is the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
This was a wild contest as there was up and down action all over the ice. In the first period alone, there were five odd man rushes for the Hawks and Canucks that featured no goals. The Canucks would get on the board first in the period when Daniel Sedin’s backhand floater went in as Emery did not close the five hole on a soft goal allowed. The Canucks were up 1-0 after one but that would not last long. The Hawks would tie the game when Patrick Sharp scored on a slap shot that beat Corey Schneider five hole. Then the Hawks would take advantage on the power play when Ryan Kesler broke his stick. The Hawks were patient and isolated Kesler and Marian Hossa put in a slap shot past Schneider. This was the first goal of the year at home for Hossa who decided he didn’t have enough home cooking. Three and half minutes later Hossa would strike again. He made a sweet move behind the boards and went to the crease and made a beautiful backhand move that beat Schneider’s foot to the post. After being down after the first, the Hawks outshot the Canucks 16-6 in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third period.
Just as the case on Sunday the Hawks had trouble in the third period. It all started when Jannick Hansen delivered a gutless forearm to the back of the head of Hossa who laid on the ice eerily reminiscent of his concussion he suffered from Raffi Torres last year. Hossa was taken off the ice and did not return. The Canucks would draw closer when Alexander Edler scored on the power play on a high shot that beat Emery with less than three minutes to play. Next, the Canucks would pull Schneider which resulted in another goal. Kevin Bieska scored from the point on another clear shot as the Hawks got pulled into a board battle. Just like that the game was tied. In overtime each team would have a few chances but no goals. Jonathan Toews and Jordan Schroeder were both stopped in the first round of the shootout. Patrick Kane would score when he was initially stopped but Schneider’s glove knocked the puck into his own net. Christopher Higgins beat Emery on a wicked wrister to even the score. With Hossa out, Joel Quenneville chose Andrew Shaw as his third shooter. Shaw made a beautiful forehand to backhand move and buried a wrister top shelf. Kesler was the next shooter and his wrist shot was gloved by Emery.
What it means
The Blackhawks have now tied the record for the most games to start a season without a regulation loss at 16 games. They improved their record to 13-0-3 and their 29 points is tied for the most ever through 16 games. Next up is the final game of the season against the San Jose Sharks for sole possession of the record.
3 stars of the game
3. Corey Schneider- Schneider had a great game as he kept the Canucks in the game. He stopped three odd man rushes in the first period alone and was continuously forced to be stellar. On the night, Schneider had 40 saves on 43 shots.
2. Patrick Sharp- Don’t look now but Sharp is on fire. He has scored in back to back games and now has 14 points in 16 games. The Hawks will need Sharp to step it up even more especially if Hossa is out for an extended period of time.
1. Marian Hossa- Before he was taken off the ice after getting blindsided by Hansen, Hossa was the best player on the ice. He scored two goals tonight which gives him 8 on the season. There is no doubt that the Hawks missed Hossa in the final period and we can only hope that Hossa is not out for a long period of time.
Comments